Electric shunting means for railway running gear



ELECTRIC SHUNTING MEANS FOR RAILWAY RUNNING GEARS Filed June 11, 1947 M.WATTER Nov. 22,- 1949 2 Shee-ts-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Ilm.,

ATTORNEY M. WATTER Nov. 22, 1949 2,488,785 ELECTRIC SHUNT'ING MEANS FoRRAILWAY RUNNING GENES Filed June 11, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TORMichael Wai ier.

BY WQ ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 22, 1949 ELECTRIC sIUN'rI'NG non' RAILWAY YRUNNING GEAR Michael Watter, Philadel BuddY .Cmpaniz Phil tion ofPennsylvania phia; Pa.; assignor to The adelphia; Pa., a corpora-Appliatiosune 11; 1947,serial No; 753,869 i claims. (ci. 246-34 Theinvention relates to'railway. running gear and particularly to suchagearin which a pair of wheels on the spaceoll tracks? rotatedifferentially'.

Such differential rotation of the wheels is de sirable to avoid slidingof the Wheels on the tracks, particularlyin rounding curved sections'oftrack, but diiculty has been' experienced inA the usev of such:differentially. rotating'wheels in obtaining good. electricalconnections between the opposite.

wheels and rthe rails with which they are associated' to insureloperation: of. track signals.

It is an object 'of therinvention to avoid these diiiiculties andprovide afre'latively simple arrangement of electricalcontacts-associated with'.

the differentially rotating 'wheels-Which insures operation'of theVtrack signals with a minimum ofV wear of the contacts.

Other and further objec'ztsA and' advantages and the manner in whichthey are attained'vwill be-` come evident from'v the following detailedde'- scription whenread inv connection with the drawings forming a partof this specicati'on;

In the drawing,

Figure 1-shows a railwayfrunning gear in trans-"U verse vertical-sectionthrough vthe axle and as'so-. ciated wheels thisview showing oneembodimentv of the invention; Y

Figurel 2 isV a similar viewof a modication; and

Figure 3k is a fragmentary elevational viewiiof the central portionv oftheaxle housing' ofA Figure 2.

In theembodiment of the invention asshown in Figure'l, ahollow axle I 0is employed; this axle extending from side to side ofthe vehicleandbeingmounted through a usual formi of roller bearing II in` journalboxes' I2 adjacent the ends of the axle,V these journal boxes beingmounted in a usual manner in the truck side frames I3.

One wheel" I4 rolling on the left-hand rail I5 of the track is rigidlysecured tothe axle in `a usual manner, asvby press-lltting; The otherwheel I' rolling on right-hand rail I'I4 is pressiitted onto a sleeveI8j which is rotatably mount ed on -the'adjacent-end-ofv the axle andextends outwardly through-the adjacent journal box 4I2 to the endy -ofthe axle. Suitable'anti-frictionA bearing sleeves I9 areinterposed'frbetween the sleeve I8 and theaxle I Il. The-outboard end.of

thesleeve I8 is screw-threaded to4A receive a closure capZtl-threaded-thereon. v

'Ifhis cap andthe hollow endT of the axle provide a convenientchamber*ffprjhousingaelectrical contacts Awhich are providedto completethe abutment 23 fitting within the hollow of the axle' and securedthereto, as by welding or brazing or` thelike, to provide a goodelectrical connection.` The contact 2l is shown as a plate sepa` ratefrom' the abutment 23 for ease of replacement, butit might, obviously,be an integral part thereof'. The opposing contact 22 is shown carried"by'. a plunger 24 vmounted for axial sliding nfiovement in` a centralboss 25 on the cap 2l)l projecting into the hp llow axle. The plunger ispressed' by a coil: spring 26 into rm engagement with the opposedcontact 2| to complete the circuit at this? point and'` thisirrespective of relati-'vewrotatibn of the wheels I4 and I6. Since thecontact'xengag'emen't is an abutting engagement concentric 'j vithv theaxle', the contacts will' be subjected toal minimum' of wear due to therelativerotation ofthe wheels,y Such relative rotaroundingY curves, `ordue to dilerential braking ofxff the wheels. Consequently; the wear onthe contactsas arranged is reduced to a minimum.

lnf` orderto prevent oil from' the bearing from reaching the contacts;an oil seal is preferably providedhbetween ther closure cap 2l) and areduced end portion 2'7 of the axle. This is accomplished byhavinganannular flange 28 on the cap telescope thereduced end. portion 2`I andproviding oil :seal ringsV 29" between these telescoping parts. i/Viththis arrangement of parts, the wheels ferentially rotatable, but suchrotation does not interferewithgood electrical circuittransmissipnbetween the rails. The arrows 30 in the view show avcontinuous good conductive path for the track circuits from raill torail.

Q According to the form of the invention shown;

in Figures 2 and 3, a light stationary axle or axle housing, designatedgenerally by 3l', interconin the inboard side frames of a truck, shownin.

dottedllines and designated 33. Each ywheel 34 is'press-tted ontoY theends of a stub axle 35 which ismounted in the adjacent journal box 32through a usual large-diameter anti-friction' bearing 36 and adjacentvits inner `enel the stub axle isrnounted'through a smaller diametervantirolling on thehopposed rails of the track are diff 3 frictionbearing 31 in the stationary axle or axle housing 3|.

The stationary axle is preferably in three sections, two end sections 38and an intermediate section 39 interconnecting the end sections. Theinboard ends of the stub axles for the opposed wheels are spaced apart,but each extends inwardly some distance beyond its associated endsection 38 of the stationary axle. The electrical contacts forcompleting the electrical connection between the wheels 34 arepreferably disposed in a chamber or casing formed between the inner endsoi the end sections 38 of the stationary axle and enclosed peripherallyby the intermediate section 39. For ready access to the contacts, thisintermediate section, which is bolted to the end section, is formed oftwo semi-cylindrical halves bolted together in their margins, see Figure3.

The abutting electrical contacts l0 and 4I are carried coaxially withthe axis of the stub axles, one contact being carried by aspring-pressed plunger, as 42, carried by the left-hand stub axle andthe other by a similar plunger, as 43, carried by the right-hand stubaxle. It will be understood, however, that instead of having bothplungers spring-pressed and movable, one might, as in thefirst-described form, be xed and only the other movably pressed againstit. To insure a good electrical connection between each plunger and theadjacent axle, iiexible conductors, as 44, may have their ends attached,as by screws, to the plunger and adjacent stub axle, respectively. It-will be understood that a similar connection may also be providedbetween the plunger 25 and the end cap 20 in the form shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 2, as in Figure l, the arrows 3D show the continuous goodconductive path for the electric current in the track circuits from raill5 to rail il at the opposite side of the vehicle. The contacts in thisform, as in the form of Figure 1, being arranged concentric to therespective independently rotatable stub axles 35, are also subjected toa minimum of Wear and, consequently, have a long life.

In this form of Figures 2 and 3, ready access is had to the contacts bymerely removing one-half of the intermediate section 39 of thestationary axle. In the form of Figure 1, such access is also readilyhad by unscrewing the closure cap 20.

While several specic embodiments of the invention has been hereindescribed in detail, it will be understood that changes andmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the main features of the invention, and such changes andmodifications are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway running gear, a pair of wheels rotating on a common axisand running on the rails of a track, said wheels being mounted to rotatedifferentially, and electrical contacts, one electrically connectedthrough an unbroken metallic connection to one of the wheels and theother electrically connected through a similar connection to the otherof the wheels and normally pressed into engagement with each other tocomplete an electrical circuit from one to the other, said contactshaving abutting engagement with each other on the axis of the wheels,and completing an electrical circuit from rail to rail at all timesirrespective of the diierential rotation of the wheels.

2. In a railway running gear, a pair of wheels each xedly mounted on anaxle section, the

Wheels and their associated axle sections being mounted to rotate withrespect to each other on a common axis, and a pair of electricalcontacts, one mounted concentrically lwith, and in unbroken electricalconnection to, one axle section and the other concentrically with, andin unbroken electrical connection to, the other axle section, saidcontacts being biased into abutting engagement and completing anelectrical circuit from wheel to wheel irrespective of the relativerotation of said Wheels and their associated axle sections.

3. In a railway running gear, a pair of wheels each flxedly mounted onan axle section, the wheels and their associated axle sections beingmounted to rotate with respect to each other on a common axis, a closedhousing formed, at least in part, by said axle sections, and a pair ofelectrical contacts in said closed housing, one mounted concentrically,with one axle section and having an unbroken electrical connectiontherewith and the other similarly mounted on and electrically connectedwith the other axle section, said contacts being biased into abuttingengagement with each other and completing an electrical circuit fromwheel to wheel irrespective of the relative rotation of said wheels andtheir associated axle sections.

4. In a railway running gear, a pair of wheels each xedly associatedwith a stub axle mounted through anti-friction bearings in a vehicleframe, said stub axles and their associated wheels being mounted torotate with respect to each other on a common axis, the inner ends ofsaid stub axles carrying concentrically therewith a pair of electricalcontacts, one electrically connected to each stub axle and means forbiasing the pair of contacts into abutting engagement with each otherfor completing an electrical circuit from wheel to wheel irrespective ofthe relative rotation of said 'wheels and their associated stub axles.

5. In a railway running gear, a hollow axle, a Wheel rigidly mountedadjacent one end of the axle and another wheel mounted rigidly on a.sleeve rotatably mounted adjacent the other end of the axle, and a pairof electrical contacts mounted within the hollow axle, one electricallyconnected to the hollow axle and the other electrically connected tosaid sleeve, the contacts being biased into abutting engagement andcompleting an electrical circuit from wheel to wheel irrespective oftheir relative rotation.

6. In a railway running gear, a hollow axle, a, wheel rigidly mountedadjacent one end of the axle, and another wheel rigidly mounted on asleeve rotatably mounted adjacent the other end of the axle, a closurefor the end of said sleeve, an oil seal between said closure and theadjacent end of the axle, said closure and the hollow axle forming aclosed chamber housing a pair of electrical contacts, one of saidcontacts being mounted concentrically of the axle and having an unbrokenelectrical connection therewith and the other concentrically of thesleeve and having an unbroken electrical connection therewith, and meansbiasing said contacts into abutting engagement to complete an electricalcircuit from wheel to wheel irrespective of their relative rotation.

'7. In a railway running gear, a sectional axle housing including twoend sections and a separate central section connecting the endssections, stub axles fixedly carrying wheels and rotatably mounted insaid end sections but spaced from each other at their inner ends, theend and cen- Vtral sections of said axle housing forming a cham- 6 berbetween the inner ends of the stub axles, REFERENCES CITED a palr ofelectrlcal contacts housed by sa1d chamu ber, one of said contacts beingelectrically con- The fOllOWlrlg references are 0f recOrd in the nectedto one of said stub axles and the other flle 0f UhlS 112113811122contact being electrically connected to the other 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS of sa1d stub laxles, and means b1asing sa1d contacts intoabutting engagement to complete an Number Name Date electrical circuitfrom Wheel toy Wheel irrespective 15931416 f Angstfom May 6, 1924 oftheir relative rotation. 1,742,826 Sanders et a1 J an. 7, 1930 IVDCHAELWATTER. 10

